My Story Starts Back in 1991
I Was 24 years old and I have just left Portland Oregon where I had attended Portland Community College and then later Portland State University. I loved learning but I hated the college structure where you were forced to learn things I am certain I would never use in my life like complicated math.
Like most, I had put myself through school working in various careers such as restaurant work, computer companies, construction companies as well as high rise construction with my father at Hoffman Construction. But by 1991 I had enough with the constant rain doom and gloom of Oregon. Sure it was beautiful in the summer months with its lush landscapes and amazing coastline but I was longing for the sun.
I hatched a plan on a Tuesday and by Saturday I was loaded up and on my way to Kerrville Texas to help my sister and her husband start a new company. I didn’t tell anyone except for my family I was leaving, I just packed up and started the long journey.
Things Take a Turn in Phoenix Arizona
By my second day of travel I had arrived in Phoenix Arizona. I was planning on staying a couple of days with my mom’s old boyfriend Gordon. Over the years Gordon and I have stayed in touch with each other and to this day I still think my mom should have married the man.
Well one day turned in to two and then 4, I had been hooked. Even with my Toyota Tacoma having no AC in the middle of July with the highest recorded heat of 121 degrees, I was hooked! Hell in Oregon if you wanted AC you just rolled down your window and froze your A** off. Luckily Gordon was a general manager for an automotive dealership group and was able to help me get AC installed on my truck for a reasonable cost.
But there was the promise to my sister to help start her company. So I left all my belongings in storage and headed off to Texas to fulfill my promise. I told her I would commit to 6 months helping her get the company up and running and thats exactly what I did before heading back to my new home in Phoenix.
Climbing the Ladder of Success.
I started my career in Phoenix working in an industry I was all too familiar with, Computers. I began working with a company called Fast Micro running their returns department. Little did I know I would meet a lady who’s older brother would open a single door for me in the future. So in 1993, that door was to the Mortgage Business working for Suburban Mortgage.
When I say open the door, thats what I mean. The office manager showed me my desk and handed me three 4″ binders followed by “Good Luck” and off he went. The binders consisted of FHA, VA and Fannie Mae Rules and regulations in the finance industry. But I am no dummy, I quickly befriended the companies designated underwriter. For 3 weeks I hung out with her helping her anyway I could and asked a thousand question as I was eager to learn this lucrative new business. Within six months I was the top producer in the company, thanks to being besties with the designated underwriter. Having a little money saved up for marketing didn’t hurt either.
The Next Big Step
Over the next year or two I worked my way up in production and was marketing to new home buyers getting them pre-qualified and then turning them over to Realtor relationships I had been building. However to many times my Realtors where taking them to new home builders that would force them to use their mortgage company or loose thousands in incentives. So what was I to do?
You guessed it, I went and took 90 hours of classes to become a Licensed Real Estate Agent. So for a couple of years I was doing both financing and acting as an agent, well until the feds changed all the rules. Now I had to make a choice to either be a Mortgage Lender or go Real Estate Agent full time. So in 1998 I went full time Realtor.
Over the years I had really enjoyed working with home builders as construction is what I grew up in. So much so I took a job with a custom home builder as their sales manager and operations manager. Yes I was putting all those college skills to good use, yes including that stupid math I thought I could get away from. Funny how life comes back to bite you in the butt.
I did this for a while and made a very good living for myself, I owned my own home with a pool, 2 vehicles and I was living the American dream. How could this get any better you ask? Well I will tell you.
So Now You Wanna Be a Home Builder?
I started building custom homes under my own company name. Over the years, this led to building small custom home subdivisions and eventually lead to building commercial properties. I had brought on a couple of partners to help grow the company so that we could eventually take it public which is where the real growth rate is.
During all this time I had gotten married to my long time girlfriend and we had two children, a daughter in 2000 and a son in 2002. I also moved my older daughter (from a previous relationship) down to live with me from Oregon. We were one big happy family, I had my older daughter working for me at the company as our receptionist, you can imagine the stories of guys hitting on her only to learn her dad was the boss.
We were killing it! We had 2 fifty lot custom home subdivisions underway, multiple commercial industrial projects with multiple wealthy investors standing in line for the next project. We were in the process of taking the company public through a reverse triangular merger I negotiated. We had audited financials done by one of the big 10 accounting firms and a huge law firm on retainer. We had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars on this venture.
Then in 2007 the shit hit the proverbial fan.
The 2007 Recession
Luckily I had a little foresight as to what was coming much like I did back in the 2000 Dot Com Bubble. I tried to convince my business partners that we needed to pull back and sell off a lot of the projects back to the investors. They of course didn’t want to do that so I offered them to buy me out at a discounted rate. After months of them trying to raise funds to buy me out I eventually started moving projects off the books and back to the investors who gladly took them over as we were the lions share of the partnership.
This time was very stressful not only financially but at home as well. It ended up costing me my marriage. She apparently didn’t like the long hours I was putting in to salvage what little I was trying to hold on to and sought the attention of another. I leave you to imagine what followed with the fighting over what money was left, things we had accumulated over the years and of course our precious children who had no control over any of this mess.
By the end of 2007 it was basically all gone. We were wrapping up all the pre sold homes we had under construction but for the most part we were done and down to a skeleton crew until the very end. I had managed to keep a couple of my own small commercial projects moving forward that I was doing personally.
In late 2008 I ended up loosing my 2 remaining projects back to the bank as they did not meet the banks new stress test requirements and I didn’t have the millions they wanted to bring them up to their new required finance ratios. So in 2009 when they finally came after me for the loan default I was forced to file Bankruptcy just like millions of other people in the country during this time.
So basically at this point with the bankruptcy I fell in to a sort of depression and just put myself on auto pilot. I bought an existing pool service business, kept my head down and worked my ass off building the business like I knew how to do. Whodda thunk there was so much money in cleaning pools.
Once the Bankruptcy was over, I started feeling much better as I was making some good money once again, I started dating again and most importantly I knew who my true friends were. All the so called friends that would hang out because I always had money were gone never to return. Just like the money I once had, sad face.
Things Are Looking Up.
In 2010 dreading another summer, I sold my pool business for double what I bought it for and got back in to Real Estate. I went back to the scene of the crime and started all over again in Residential and commercial Real Estate. There were still so many people and properties needing help not to mention tremendous opportunities in the market. I watched land that once sold for $15 per square foot go down to as low as $1.00 per square foot. Homes that were previously worth $1.7 million (mine) sold for only $585,000 on a short sale. If you were around during this time, you all know what I am talking about. It was a financial blood bath for everyone in all tax brackets nationwide.
As of 2015 I got tired of the residential market and switched to only doing commercial industrial Real Estate. Since then I have just been plugging away and learning everything I can along the way. I have managed to make a good living for myself and my kids who moved in with me full time. It’s been a real joy raising them and teaching everything from riding a bike, investing to learning how to drive.
Opportunities to get back in to developing property have presented themselves multiple times. But when they do, I think back to the life I lived and all the stress with employees, money, partners, banks and I take a pass. I am happy where I am in life with much less stress and yes less money. But then the Pandemic hits.
2020 was the year of the virus, everything shut down. Although it was billed as the end of times and everyone who goes outside without a mask is going to die. Eventually ends up being just another nasty flu virus that some a-hole concocted in a laboratory on the other side of the world and let it escape upon the world.
During this time things slowed down and I used the time to get my Brokers license in the state of Florida’s thinking as soon as my kids are out I could use a change of scenery. I have lived in the cold for 24 years, now in the desert for another 30. I think its time to live on the coast for the 3rd act of my life and maybe do some sailing?
Now I am trying to figure out if I can take this show on the road and tour some countries while I build up the Blog. I eventually would like to move to Florida but I think I have earned a year or two of traveling abroad through South East Asia.
In Summary
Throughout my life and in the moments above that represent only a minor snap shots of my life, I have never stopped learning. I am constantly consuming knowledge and helping others with what I have learned. I have obtained my pilots license, I’m an open water advanced diver, I’ve learned to fly helicopters and I am a certified TIG welder. I have earned a dozen 3 letter designations in my Real Estate & Construction career. I have taken tens of paid courses to learn new things from people within the industry I am interested and happily paid them thousands of dollars each for the knowledge.
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